Interviews

Aug 14, 2010 9:48 - 0 Comments

‘Peepli Live’ will change nothing: Anusha Rizvi

By Dibyojyoti Baksi
Mumbai, Aug 13 Debutant director Anusha Rizvi’s “Peepli Live” has opened to rave reviews, but the former journalist doesn’t believe her satire on farmer suicides will change anything. “Nothing can happen until people stand up and regulate the system,” she says.

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Aug 12, 2010 9:02 - 0 Comments

Joy of producing a play is unlimited: Vipul Shah

By Ruchika Kher
Mumbai, Aug 12 (IANS) Filmmaker Vipul Shah, who has returned to theatre after a gap of 14 years with “Bas Itna Sa Khwab”, says the joy of producing a play is unparalleled.
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Jul 26, 2010 9:14 - 0 Comments

Love for my work keeps me going: Anil Kapoor

By Radhika Bhirani

New Delhi, July 26 ‘Mr. India’ Anil Kapoor, at 50, is possibly the only actor who has film offers pouring in almost every day after 67-year-old mega star Amitabh Bachchan. He sees no competition from younger stars, and feels it is an injustice to compare him with Big B.
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Jul 15, 2010 9:16 - 0 Comments

Angelina is perfect spy: ‘Salt’ director

By Robin Bansal
New Delhi, July 15 (IANS) Australian director Phillip Noyce of “The Bone Collector” fame loves telling spy stories. And in Angelina Jolie, he says, he has “the perfect spy” for his latest film “Salt” because she is so attractive.

“They say that as humans we trust people who are attractive more than people who are not attractive. So Angelina makes the perfect spy because she is completely a goddess,” Noyce told IANS in a telephonic interview from Washington.

The 60-year-old is busy promoting “Salt”, which was originally written around a male sleeper spy. But when Tom Cruise turned down the role fearing the character was too close to his “Mission Impossible” (MI) character Ethan Hunt, the script was changed into a female centric story.

This is the second time Noyce has directed Jolie, after the 1999 crime thriller “The Bone Collector”.

Distributed by Columbia Pictures, the action thriller also stars Liev Schreiber and Chiwetel Ejioforthe and releases worldwide on July 23.

It will hit Indian screens in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu and the director is quite positive about the response.

“Indian audiences love spectacle. They like complicated stories, action and I believe they love Angelina Jolie. I hope that they find this film really entertaining and a wonderful ride like a roller coaster,” he said.

Excerpts from the exclusive interview with IANS:

Q. Is it true that Tom Cruise was first choice for “Salt”?

A. Tom Cruise was one of the actors I was talking to when the part was originally written for a man. When Tom decided not to play Edwin A. Salt, we moved on to Angelina.

Q. So how different is “Salt” from the MI series?

Q. Ethan Hunt is a man and Evelyn Salt is a woman. That’s the first way of differentiating them. “Salt” is much more reality-based. It’s mainly real people placing themselves in real danger on the screen. There’s very little CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) in “Salt”.

Superficially there are similarities between “Mission Impossible” and “Salt”. Ethan Hunt’s missions are always larger than life and fantastic – no criticism of them all but they are not meant to be believed.

Q. And does Jolie make a better spy than Tom Cruise?

A. They say that as humans we trust people who are attractive more than people who are not attractive. So Angelina makes the perfect spy because she is completely a goddess.

Q. Looking at your credits like “Patriot Games”, “Clear and Present Danger”, “The Saint” and now “Salt” – are you fascinated by spy and crime thrillers?

A. My dad was a military spy during the second world war. So I grew up on such stories. As a result of my father’s job, I’ve always been interested in the world of spies. Since the last decade, I’ve been looking for a project that deals with sleeper spies.

The interesting part about such people (sleeper spies) is what happens if they come from a totalitarian situation, go to an enemy country and actually fall in love with that country. “Salt” is about such thing.

The story in fact came true in America. In the last two weeks, we have been constantly entertained by the headlines of the arrest of Russian sleeper spies in New York City. The concept of sleeper spies is a lot involved in the world.

Q. What are your expectations from Indian audiences for “Salt”?

A. Indian audiences love spectacle. They like complicated stories, action and I believe they love Angelina Jolie. I hope that they find this film really entertaining and a wonderful ride like a roller coaster. “Salt” is a very entertaining popcorn thriller and will keep the (Indian) audiences on the edge of their seats.

Q. Any plans to ever direct a Bollywood film?

A. I think every director in the world would love to direct a Bollywood movie after Danny Boyle made his own version of a Bollywood film with “Slumdog Millionaire”.

(Robin Bansal can be contacted at robin.b@ians.in)

Jul 9, 2010 9:03 - 0 Comments

Ingmar Bergman was very funny: Liv Ullmann

By Satyen K. Bordoloi
Fårö Island (Sweden), July 9 (IANS) Theirs was one of the most powerful screen partnerships in cinema. Even today actress Liv Ullmann’s grey eyes sparkle as she recalls her days with Swedish legend Ingmar Bergman, saying it is hard to believe that a man known for his dark, brooding films could be so “playful and funny”.
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